Every GovConFeed story on DARPA — contract awards, policy, enforcement, and protests, newest first.
DARPA advanced Atom Computing, Diraq, IBM and IonQ to Stage C of its Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, where government evaluators test hardware against utility-scale goals for 2033. IonQ said its agreement is worth up to $300 million through 2029, with funding beyond the initial obligation tied to future appropriations.
Read the story →Other Transaction Agreements let DoD fund prototypes outside the FAR — over $18 billion in FY2024. How 10 U.S.C. 4021/4022 work, why nearly all small businesses qualify as nontraditional contractors, how consortia carry nearly two-thirds of prototype dollars, and why OT protests now live at the Court of Federal Claims, not GAO.
More than 120 teams from over 20 countries will fly heavy-lift drones at DARPA's Lift Challenge in Dayton, Ohio, Aug. 2-9, competing for $6.5 million in prizes tied to the Pentagon's Drone Dominance push.
Naval Sea Systems Command awarded ReconCraft LLC of Anchorage, Alaska a $24.96M sole-source contract for autonomous low-profile vessels, built at the firm's Clackamas, Oregon plant, funded through the Navy's accelerated fielding line.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe says a February 2026 acquisition overhaul, centralized vendor vetting, and a DARPA veteran procurement chief have already delivered nearly 400 tech buys in six months, down from a 33-month legacy process.
DARPA added $121.5M to SecuriGence LLC's IT multi-network support task order in June 2026, pushing the cumulative contract value to $816.4M. The Chenega-owned firm has supported DARPA's classified and unclassified networks since 2021.
DARPA published a June 16 RFI seeking technologies to restore critical space capabilities within hours after an attack, covering five areas including reconfigurable payloads, VLEO operations, and rapid launch integration. Industry responses due July 8, 2026.
Quantum Space, led by former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, is merging with a SPAC at a $1.2B post-transaction valuation to fund its Ranger spacecraft for DoD cislunar and counter-space missions. The company holds six existing DoD contracts.
DARPA awarded eight small businesses a $350 million IDIQ under its Managed Enterprise Network Support Services program on May 19, selected from 26 offers, to provide commodity and mission IT, product lifecycle support, and ad-hoc technology solutions across the agency's technical and support offices.
Other Transaction Authority agreements grew from $1.8B in FY16 to over $18B in FY24. The FY26 NDAA expands Commercial Solutions Openings to all commercial products and services, and eliminates the written-determination requirement above $10M. A real non-FAR path for firms that find FAR procurement impossible.
CLARA funds high-assurance AI research at $2M per award over 24 months. Mandatory Apache 2.0 open-source release for all software produced. Universities, research orgs, and small businesses eligible. Plus: a recent direct-to-Phase II SBIR award shows DARPA's path for non-traditional vendors.
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